It is known to remove blood thrombi from the vasculature by locally introducing a solvent capable of causing lysis of the thrombus and thereby permitting the fragments to be dissolved or swept away by the circulating blood.
However, there are times when lysis of the thrombus is not possible and there are other solid bodies or structures which form in the vasculature or in other ducts or passages of the human body which must be removed from time to time to prevent obstruction which may be dangerous to the survival of a limb or organ or to the patient. Such materials include calcium residues, tissue structures, blood clots or the like which may obstruct circulation or the release or passage of vital fluids to appropriate locations. With such materials removal has posed a problem.
Other solid objects or deposits, such as kidney stones, gall stones or lime stones, in general to the extent that they cannot be flushed away or dissolved by a solvent, have been destroyed in situ by application of ultrasonic treatment to fragment these stones or deposits, the fragments being then carried away in natural manner. Here too residues are frequently left which may be detrimental in themselves or may serve as nuclei for the generation of new stones or deposits in an accelerated manner.
Mention should be also be made of the fact that the use of catheterization to remove local solid materials has advanced in recent years, it being well known, for example, to provide catheter-like probes capable of excising tissue and inserted through a body aperture and directed to a site from which a biopsy is to be taken or material is to be removed. Such devices may operate with suction.
In spite of the developments in this field in recent years, there nevertheless remains the need for an apparatus which can more fully remove solid materials from the human body and, specifically, from the ducts or passages therein.